The homes of the Brooklyn Museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, and several Jewish board members were vandalized overnight. The perpetrators smeared red paint and scrawled hate-filled messages such as “blood on your hands” across the targeted properties.
Pasternak’s co-op apartment building in Brooklyn Heights bore the brunt of the attack, with a sign proclaiming her a “White Supremacist Zionist” and an inverted red triangle, a symbol previously used by Hamas to identify Israeli military targets, sprayed on her door. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from city officials and community members alike.
Mayor Eric Adams took to social media to denounce the vandalism, stating, “This is not peaceful protest or free speech. This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable anti-Semitism.” He assured Pasternak and the affected board members that such hatred would not be tolerated in New York City and that the NYPD was investigating the matter to bring those responsible to justice.
The Brooklyn Museum, in a statement, expressed being “deeply troubled by these horrible acts.” Residents of Pasternak’s building, including 79-year-old Harriet Colen, shared their fear and unease in the wake of the antisemitic attack. Colen, a lifelong Brooklyn resident and Jewish herself, noted that people should not have to fear walking around their own neighborhood.
Local lawmakers, including Councilman Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn) and Councilmember Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), were quick to condemn the vandalism, labeling it “despicable” and “absolutely horrific and vile.” Comptroller Brad Lander criticized the perpetrators, stating that their actions harm the cause they claim to support and make everyone less safe.
The incident comes on the heels of a recent protest at the Brooklyn Museum, where anti-Israel demonstrators set up an encampment, defaced artwork, and draped a banner accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. As the city grapples with this latest manifestation of antisemitism, authorities are working to identify and apprehend those responsible for the vandalism.
